Railroad cross-tie.



PATENTED AUG. 11, 1908- W. BOYERQ RAILROAD (moss TIE.

APPLIOATION FILED OGT.8, 1907.

INVENTOI? mllzmfiag/er W/TNESSES ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES P TENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM BOYER, OF VALENTINE, NEBRASKAZ, ASSIGNOB. OF ONE-HALF TO CHARLES H.

' CORNELL, OF VALENTINE, NEBRASKA.

RAILROAD CROSS-TIE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 11, 1908.

Application filed October 8, 1907. Serial No. 396,378.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM BOYER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Valentine, in the county of Cherry and State of Nebraska, have invented a new and Imroved Railroad Cross-Tie, of which the folowing is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to cross ties for railroads formed of metal.

When ties of the character indicated are cast into form, it is diflicult to render them solid throughout their bodies, and in consequence such ties are liable to break; furthermore, resilience, which is desirable in a metal tie, is very slight in such ties as are formed in one piece by casting or other analogous means.

The object of my invention is to provide a cross tie formed in plate-like sections of steel, that are clamped one upon the other and upon a track rail, thus all'ording a laminated steel cross tie having great strength, ample resilience and durability, with a minimum weight; and a further object is to provide novel, convenient means for securing track rails and the improved cross ties together, that will permit a necessary endwise movement of the rails for their expansion and contraction due to changes of temperature, and will also permit the quick and easy removal of the multipart cross tie for the track repairs or other purposes.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination ol parts, as is hereinafter described and defined in the appended claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanymg drawings fornnng a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view substantially on the line l-l in Fig. 3, showing one embodiment of n'iy invention; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the cross tie and rail connection shown in Fig. l Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view oi the improved cross tie, substantially on the line in Fig. 1, a clam ing device being shown by dotted and full ines; Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view of a track rail, a longitudinal sectional view of a portion of the improved cross tie, and means for securing the track rail on the cross tie, and Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional away, the rail being seated upon a portion of the improved cross tie shown in section.

The improved cross tie, as illustrated in the drawings, comprises a plurality of steel plates 5, 5, 5 of suitable thickness, having parallel sides and edges, the areas of the plates preferably being reduced successively so that their side edges form steps when they are seated one upon the other, as appears in Figs. 2 and 3.

Three plates are shown to represent the construction of the tie, but it is to be understood that but two plates, or any suitable number greater than two, may .be utilized as component members of the laminated cross tie. The im rovement is especially wellrails upon agrade roadbed for a railroad, and is shown as combined with such a rail 6.

In the construction of a railroad of which i the laminated cross ties in sufiicient number form bases for track rails 6, said ties are as usual arranged transversely on a graded and ballasted roadbed, for the support of said track rails near the ends of the latter and between the same, not shown.

As the cross ties of improved construction are essentially alike, a description of one tie and of the means for connecting a track rail 6 therewith, will suflice for any number of ties and rails employed. The tie Sections, composed of the plates 5, 5, 5 are shown as preferably disposed one upon another, each reduced in width, the plate 5 of the least width being uppermost. It is to be understood, however, that in some cases the plates forming the cross tie, maybe reversed in their arrangement, thus disposing the plate of least width lowermost, and the widest plate on top of the others. At a point where the track rail 6 is to 'beseated and secured upon the composite cross tie, two transversely central slots a are formed in all the tie plates, these longitudinal slots being spaced apart a distance which will permit the base of the track rail to' be seated on the cross tie between them. w

In Figs. 1 and 3, the connection for securing the track rail on the cross tie, and at the same time clamping the, plates forming thetie together, is shown in its simplest form 7 and lower jaws 7 closely embracing the base flanges 6 on the rail 6 and lower tie plate 5 ad'acent to the inner ends of said slots. In t e remaining portion of each of the slots 0, a key S is fitted, which tapers edgewise and when forced downward causes the corresponding jaw 7 to bind upon the base flange 6 it is seated upon. As shown in Fig. 1, the ends of the jaws 7 a bear upon respective sides of the web 6 of the track rail 6 when the gibs are pressed into engagement with the lower tie plate 5* and base flanges 6, so that the track rail is held from lateral displacement on the composite tie, and the parts of the latter are moderately clamped together. It will be obvious that by a proper depression of the keys 8, the track rail 6 will be permitted to receive longitudinal adjustment on the cross tie, which will compensate for the expansion and contraction of the track rails disposed in sewhen affected by changes in temperature. The keys 8 are preferably prevented from vertical dis lacement by cross pins 0 that are inserted t rough transverse perforations in the keys below and near to the lower surface of the cross tie, and it will be apparent that percussiondue to traverse of car wheels on the trackrails, will settle the, keys and maintalion a proper clamping adjustment of the g1 s 7,.

In Fig. 4, thereis shown a pair of fish plates 9, a plied upon the opposite sides of the rail we 6?, Said fish plates that are 0- adjacent. Webs rality of bolts (1 and nuts d.

sitioned in the ordinary way at a joint etween the'ends of two trackrails, are as usual held in clamped engagement with the of the track rails by a plu- For the proper clamping connection together of the plates composing the improved cross tie, ibs 7 having jaws 7 on their edges at eac end, serve to clamp the 'base flanges 6 of the track rails'upon the cross tie and the plates of the tie together, when the keys 7 are forcibly driven into the slots partly occupied by the gibs. The only difierence between the gibs 7 and gibs 7 consists in shortening the upper jaws 7 so that they will bear upon the fis plates 9, instead of having contact with the Webs of the track rails.

In Fig. 5, the form oLthe fish plates 10 is altered somewhat, permitting their upright members to bear closely upon the webs 6 of the'track rails, and as shown, said fish plates which have intimate contact with the rail webs and base flanges on the track rails, have short studs g pro ected from their upright sides that enter holes formed transversely in the rail webs. The gibs 7 that occupy slots in the tie plates indicated in Fig. 5, have jaws 7 that bear upon the fish plates 10, and it will be seen that keys 7, which engage the ibs 7 cause the jaws 7 to bear upon the sh plates 10 with sufficient force to hold the ranged in a tie lates assembled and the ends of two trac rails alined that are pressed by the fishplates 10. It will also be apparent that by a proper vertical adjustment of the keys that" bear on the gibs 7 one being shown in Fig. 5, the track rails will be roperly clamped by the fish lates 10, and tl ie latter will be held so that t ey can only move a short distance endwise, by the studs g that occupy slightly oblong holes in the webs 6 of adjacent track rails that are arranged in sequence on the improved cross ties. It is claimed that where the gibs are constructed as shown in Fig. 1, their jaws 7 by impingement upon the webs 6 of the track rails, afford reliable support for said rails and relieve the strain usually thrown upon the spikes that fasten the rails upon the cross ties.

It will be seen that the manner of securing together the several plates forming a cross tie with gibs and keys, that also secure the track rails on the ties, is a novel and valuable feature, as it virtually dispenses with the ne cessity of employing bolts for the pur ose of holding the track rails on the ties, an at the same time permits the track rails to move endwise sufficiently to compensate for changes in their length. Other points of merit are that the rails cannot become-depressed at their ends, that they will be preserved in proper gage, and that the ties will have considerable resilience. It will furthermore be obvious that the keys and gibs holding the rails on the ties, by their removal release the plates of a tie, so that they may be readily removed for repairs of the track and be quickly reassembled when the work has been completed.

The ties are very durable and may in quan tity be produced at moderate cost.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. Incombination, a cross tie formed of a plurality pf resilient metallic plates havin ifieren't widths and arranged in a tier, sai

plates having two sets of registering slots therein, a track rail seated upon the tie between the slots of each set, gibs occupying the slots and having jaws on their ends, those at one end of each gib bearing on a base flange of the track rail and those on the other ends of said gibs bearing upon the lower plate of the cross tie, a tapered key forced in each slot and bearing upon the back of a respective gib, and a cross pin occupying a transverse perforation in the lower end of each key adjacentto the cross tie.

2. In combination, a cross-tie formed of a plurality of fiat metallic plates that are re silient, the plates differing in width and ar tier, said lates having two s aced sets of slots therein, the slots in each p ate registering with corresponding slots in the other plates, a track-rail seated upon the cross-Lie, between the slots mining each se thereof, iwe iii-plates, each bearing oppo siiely upcm. the web and baseflangn of the t at ii, 3m; gibs *1 FQQECHVG 0mm '11; b"

and means for securing the keys from vortichl displacemvnt.

In testimony \vhm'mf l haw sigma! my name to this s'purili 116011 in the presume of L tww subscribing \Yilm-sst-s.

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1 E WHJLLXM BUYER. 5 1 Hanna. 

